Parts of Iraq’s National Museum will reopen to arranged group tours tomorrow, after a dedication ceremony today.

A French battleship sunk by a German submarine in 1917 has been found sitting upright on the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. Two-hundred-ninety-six sailors died when the Danton sank.   

Atlantis, however, remains lost. Some Google Earth aficionados thought they may have spotted the fabled city off the coast of Africa, but the folks at Google say no. “What users are seeing is an artifact of the data collection process. Bathymetric (or sea floor terrain) data is often collected from boats using sonar to take measurements of the sea floor,” explained a statement from the company.  

In Xi’an, China, archaeologists have found a Han Dynasty tomb decorated with 2,000-year-old murals. The tomb also contained pottery and gold and jade artifacts.  

BBC News has picked up the story of an unnamed Malaysian scientist, who says he has discovered 1.8 million-year-old hand axes embedded in stone. The tools were dated in a Japanese lab.   

And what did human ancestors eat? At the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, anthropologist Richard Wrangham of Harvard University and others compared the early human diet to that of other primates. “The hallmark of the human diet is flexibility, the ability to find or make a meal in any environment,” added William Leonard of Northwestern University.  

A 2,000-year-old brick temple dedicated to Shiva has been uncovered in a complex of five temples in India’s Uttar Pradesh.  

In Asheville, North Carolina, a planned airport runway expansion unearthed artifacts at a site described as “perhaps the most significant Native American site that will be found in the region in our lifetimes,” by archaeologist Michael Trinkley of the Chicora Foundation. The Macon County Airport Authority wants to excavate 25% of the artifacts, but the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and Trinkley say that all of them should be removed.  

Many royal seal impressions were excavated in the village of Umm Tuba in southern Jerusalem. The impressions were found within a large building and date to the First and Second Temple periods.   

A hoard of coins and jewels discovered in 1998 near a medieval synagogue in Erfut, Germany, is traveling for the last time before it becomes a permanent exhibit at the synagogue. “There is a very poignant edge as these…treasures were almost certainly buried by Jewish families at the time of the Black Death, when Jews were used as a scapegoat,” said Stephen Duffy of London’s Wallace Collection, where the objects are on display.  

Here’s another article on the risk to Greece’s archaeological heritage from scuba divers who steal. “It’s good to have tourism but we must protect antiquities. Not every diver is an illegal trafficker…but we need to ensure these treasures remain for future generations,” said Katerina Dellaporta, director of antiquities at the Culture Ministry.

This entry was posted by Jessica E. Saraceni on Monday, February 23, 2009. Discussion of this blog entry is now closed.

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